Rikon

[John Brennaman]

Just wanted to share a good experience I had with Rikon customer support. I have a 1 1/2 year old 18" Rikon bandsaw. The motor started having startup issues so I contacted their support center. I was told that they would ship me a new motor and 4 days later it was on my front stoop. I talked to Rod in the Rikon repair facility and he gave me instructions on the replacement of the motor. Following his instructions I was able to replace the motor in about 30 minutes. It was also 1/2 HP greater than the original motor. I will definitely look at Rikon when I decide to make my next major tool purchase.

[David Cramer]

That's good news John and thanks for sharing a positive customer service moment. I am also looking at Rikon for a future purchase and posts like yours really help make the decision easier. Now a question, who makes Rikon products? Good luck with the new motor and power on!

Dave

[David Wilson]

John
I've had similar experiances with Rikon Excelent customer service.

[John Brennaman]

I asked Rod at Rikon customer service about who manufactures Rikon products. Below is his answer.

WE DO!
We have our own factory in Qingdao, China which is a one hour flight south from Beijing.
RIKON Power tools is one of a few who do not outsource to multiple factories to manufacture for them. In fact, many of the big names actually come to us to manufacture for them!

[Bill Leung]

Good info as I am also looking into the Rikon BS. John, have you been happy with the saw?

[John Brennaman]

After I purchased a couple of Timberwolf blades I have been very happy with it. I have been resawing some hard maple and it cuts right through it. I haven't had to make any adjustments since the initial setup 1 1/2 years ago. I don't move it around though. It sits in one place in the shop.

[Pete Brown]

I'm glad you had a good customer service experience.

One question I do have is about the motors. I've seen a bunch of "great customer service" posts about Rikon, almost all of which have been due to motor failures. Great CS is, well, great, but what's up with the motors?

Pete

[John Brennaman]

When talking to their customer service they told me that they received a bad batch of motors. He even had the sequence of serial numbers that possibly received the bad motors.

[Terry Bigelow]

My Dad purchased the Rikon mini lathe last Feb at the WWShow and didn't get it out until about a month ago(been too busy with work so I ended up with it for now!) and it had a bit of runout. Didn't have the box or reciept. We called Rikon and they arranged for a swap out at a local dealer(HighlandHardware) with a brand new one, no questions asked!!! That's great customer service! New one runs like a champ too:) !

[Michael McCoy]

Pete - I can't say anything about the Rikon customer service since I haven't used it. I have the 14" and been using it just about daily for the last month or so and never a burp with this one.

[Mark Pruitt]

I agree that Rikon's customer support people are friendly, courteous, and helpful, but I have to say that the experience I had with a Rikon Mini Lathe last year was so unpleasant that I said "no more Rikon." Maybe I'm being unfair, but that Mini Lathe screwed me three times in less than a month. I don't like lemons.:(

[Eric Wong]

I'm glad you had a good customer service experience.

One question I do have is about the motors. I've seen a bunch of "great customer service" posts about Rikon, almost all of which have been due to motor failures. Great CS is, well, great, but what's up with the motors?

Pete

I totally agree. Thank goodness they've got great customer service because they've obviously got a big problem with their motor supplier!